San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-01-29

and the girls heart leaps as she an
swers breathlessly-
yes; he is the very image of his
father
Dark, supposeT
yes, just like the face in the picture
in the dining-rOom."
THAT was taken when | was one
and-twenty; you wouldn't think that, l
Indeed it is very like you still, Mr..
Bertrand;" and the sweet fiattery
pleases the old man.
Tell me about my sons children"
he says presently, with an old quaver
in his voice. dick Ponsonby is good
fellow; but he is not Bertrand, not
Rowland"
Aliens cheeks flame; her heart
beats violently; she has reused his SYM
pathy at last, awakened memories Of
long ago.
Dreamily Mr.. Bertrand gazes into
the fire and listens to her story, and at
last she says to him, with a passionate
culver Of her voice
"He is your own grandson, sir, a
Bertrand every inch, and he is only
poor clerk in an Office, and very, very
poor"
For herself she will make no appeal,
w ltONll
seems like treachery to Dick Ponsonby.
How mean he will think me, how he
will despise me-" she thinks, hot
shamed bushes scorching her cheeks,
when he knows that l came here I'M
der false pretenses to take away his in
heritance from him!"
"Dick will have the Ponsonby estates,
and his mother had property that will
come to him too" Mr.. Bertrand re-
marks half aloud; and then he looks at
Aileen. II am getting old, my dear,
and | see things differently; my boy
broke my heart, and yet | can't feel
hard on his son now"
"You couldn't if you only saw him."
Aileen cries impulsively; "and he feels
so much that he is an outcast!",
Isis his mother poorT The old
man puts the question with difficulty.
He may think kindly Of his sons child,
but lie cannot forgive his mother.
"Yes, very poor; but they manage to
live. She does not mind for herself
only for Rowly."
You seem to know them very well?"
yes, very WE'LL" Aileen responds
little confuSedly. In the morning she
lays a photograph in the old mans
hands.
THAT is Rowland Bertrand" she
says simply, and moves away that he
may look at it unmatched; and present.
ly she hears him whisper, That is my
son, my very sonl"
He gives 1t back to her, and is very
silent during the remainder of the day.
He says no more about the Bertrands;
but his face looks wistful and sad, and
he is not even cross when Dick breaks
in upon the pleasant calm.
Mr.. Bertrand is better and has come
down to the library, where he is happy
amongst his books and papers. Miss
Brown however is to be fixture for
the present.
Don't leave me, my dear; your sweet
face does an old man good" he says.
And so Aileen stays, and day by day
he talks to her of ROwly when Dick is
not in the room; and day by day Dick
falls more hOpelessly in love.
"My dear, l will do my dead son JUS
ticel"
Old Mr.. Bertrand looks up at Aileen
as he speaks. The moment of triumph
has come, and yet she does not feel as
happy as she expected she would. She
feels as if she were traitor in the
camp.
Come back after dinner, Miss
Brown" Mr.. Bertrand says; Il have
something to say to you. want you
to write and tell this grandson of mine
to come, that may make his acquaint-
ance."
"You will love him when you see
him - Ailaan 10 uniaa ia tram hlinn her
eyes are full of tears. Please, Mr..
Bertrand, may l leave you tomorrow?
You really don't want a nurse now,
and l have-theTe is sure to be another
case waiting for me-"
Il shall miss you very much. You
have made a cross old man very happy,
child"
81 have only done my duty, SIR"
AS she sits at dinner with P0nSonby,
she tells him that Oh the morrow she is
going away. Dicks face grows troub-
led.
Il dare say you are delighted to CO."
he remarks ungraciously.
But Aileen does not look glad; there
is tremor in her voice.
81 have to CO." she whispers. MIR.
Bertrand is nearly well; he does not
want me any more"
Perhaps somebody else wants you"
Dick begins desperately, looking into
her flush startled face; but, as has hap
pened before, Hartnell's voice inter-
rupts suddenly at the door
"If you please, Miss Brown, my mas
ter wants you, if you have quite fin
iShed dinner"
So Aileen goes, and an hour later
Dick Ponsonby, passing through the
hall, sees letter addressed to Row
land Bertrand, ESQ.," lying on the hall
table, waiting for the post; and. with
passionate exclamation, he marches off
to the smoking-roOm thoroughly out of
sorts.
And nobody sees Mr.. Bertrand's man
Hartnell remove the letter to his own
room, and, after careful manipulation
over a cup of hot water, master the
contents of the letter, and then replace
it in the envelope.
when l die now, the next heir will
step in" Mr.. Bertrand says the words
with smile; beside him stands Allen,
with pale cheeks and parted lips, and
and on the hearth shoulders sheet of
paper. Poor Dickl Well, he will be
rich without it, and my heart yearns
over Rowland's boy"
The destruction of her grandfather's
will Aileen watches with mingled feel
ings-half pleasure, half pain. Once or
twice she is tempted to tell who she is,
and then she thinks again it will be
wiser not. Dick-well, she need never
meet him again! Rowly will be happy;
but she--she will never set foot in the
Court again as long as she lives. Let
Dick think of her always as Miss